“Sebring is a great way to start the season; it’s one of my favourite tracks. †Darren Turner’s words, while wholly honest, are somewhat misleading. Next weekend’s American Le Mans Series 12 Hours of Sebring may be the opening race of his 2007 season, but he’s been busier than ever in the first few months of the year, and has already spent a good many days behind the wheel of a racing car.
A full season as a works driver with SEAT Sport UK in the high profile British Touring Car Championship is Darren’s main focus for 2007 but, in and around those commitments, he’s lining up as many races as possible in his sportscar of choice, the Aston Martin DBR9, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin Racing. As the man who, since it hit the tracks, has completed more hours of testing and racing in this GT1 car than any other driver, the amiable Briton is not only highly experienced but also very successful with victories at Sebring and Petit Le Mans amongst his tally.
“It’s been such a busy winter period; I hardly seem to have stopped. I’ve done Aston Martin and SEAT testing, plus media, marketing and promotional work, which has all been very good but my real enjoyment in life is racing. There’s nothing worse than sitting around and waiting for races to happen.
“Sebring really is one of my favourite tracks, despite the bumps but unfortunately I can’t get there until Wednesday afternoon due to a BTCC media day on Tuesday. I’ve been looking at the data from the last two years, and have tried to prepare for it as best as I can. I’m hoping that Antonio [Garcia] and Liz [Halliday] will have dialled the car into the circuit by the time I get there. Antonio is a really good, fast driver and, even though he hasn’t been to Sebring before, I’m sure it won’t take him long to adjust to it – though it is quite different to European tracks. Liz’s experience there will be invaluable to Team Modena.
“This is the team’s first race in the American Le Mans Series but hopefully I can help them make it a memorable debut. My running in their Aston Martin DBR9 will be quite limited prior to the race; depending on how things have gone in practice I may get to qualify but we’ll have to play it by ear. It’s exciting to be able to go back to Sebring again – something I wasn’t sure was going to happen this year with the works team’s restricted programme. I can’t wait to get to Florida and get going. â€
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